The Iroquois Nation

The Iroquois were a group of tribes - a "nation" (Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca, Tuscarora) - whose other name was Haudenosaunee (people of longhouse). They lived far away from the Pueblo and the Apache in the thick woods of northeastern America. Exactly how long they have lived there is not known, but they had probably arrived thousands of years before the white man discovered them. The Iroquois were skilled farmers, they were also hunters and fishermen. They were fierce warriors. From boyhood on, male Iroquois were taught to fear neither pain nor death. After the whites arrived these people were ravaged by the French and English oppression. Today some Iroquois live in northern New York State, and a few removed groups are settled in northeastern Oklahoma, near the Cherokees. In each group, some of the old ceremonies are still performed, old songs are sung, and a few legend survive.